Nerd Corner: the Outrageous Sudoku Shocker

Well it seems in Japan, people rarely call or know sudoku as sudoku (数独). They know it more commonly as nanpure (nam-poo-ray) which is a portmanteau of the English 'Number Place'. Whaaat?

But yes, I was reliably informed by Japanese friends, after 'nanpure' was listed as the Japanese for sudoku in a recent textbook. 

This seemed particularly odd to me - outside Japan we all know sudoku as a Japanese puzzle, with a Japanese name. And yet that's not the case actually in Japan?? 

Pretty much. Which set me off on a bit of delving. 

There seem to be two (maybe interlinked) reasons for this mysterious reversal. 

1. The puzzle is not necessarily, entirely, Japanese. There have been a whole bunch of similar number puzzles historically, and worldwide. And in the 20th century the (relatively obscure?) American puzzle, Number Place, made its way to Japan. It was popular, got modified, named sudoku, and later on, re-exported to the West ...where it was a huge hit and generally known as 'Japanese'. But in Japan - unlike the West - the original Number Place moniker still had resonance.

2. This one is anecdotal from another Japanese friend, but makes pretty good sense: the term 'sudoku' was actually copyrighted, in Japan, by a certain Japanese publisher. As a result, other publications could use the same puzzle concept, but they had to call it something else. And nanpure seems to have been the most ready option. Overseas, however, where there was no breach of copyright, all puzzles were presented as 'sudoku'.

Anyway, hope that's provided a little Thursday interest. Time for coffee (with no puzzles) for me. 

- Sudoku itself is a Japanese portmanteau for 数字は独身に限る (suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru) roughly 'keep the digits single'. As you might have guessed, portmanteau words from many languages are popular in Japanese! 

- Nanpure ナンプレ is written in a different script, katakana - reserved for borrowed foreign words.

Anecdotal Note on the British Class System

OK, the British class system is a lot less pronounced now than it used to be. As I've mentioned before, it's socially crass (and occasionally illegal) today to judge others negatively based on their class. (And yes, this should cut up and down across all groups.) 

But there are still things which are commonly acknowledged as indicative of certain classes. And these are sometimes gently mocked in the UK, particularly by the classes which actually exhibit them. For example: the eating of Mediterranean chickpea spread, hummus. Hummus is cheap and ubiquitous in UK supermarkets, but has long been considered a 'middle class' thing - alongside pesto, sundried tomatoes*, craft beers and other artisan foods. Holidays to places like Tuscany in Italy, the South of France, spas or yoga retreats also fall into this category. Middle class people (and the media) will make jokes about this. I suppose what makes some of these things 'middle class' is that they're slightly unusual, popular with other middle classes - or are a sign that you consider yourself cultured in some way. Why have fancy Greek hummus on your toast, when you could just have good old, traditional English jam?

The other day I was reminded of a conversation with a creative (middle class) UK friend, just before I started business school outside London. I should probably preface it by explaining that SPAR is similar to a less glamourous 7-Eleven convenience store chain.

Friend: What's the town like near campus? 
Me: It's a village. Really basic. There's nothing there, only a SPAR. 
Friend: Oh, a spa! How lovely! Well that's something.

* (I think the Mediterranean foods thing kicked off when middle class British Prime Minister Tony Blair once stated he liked eating Italian pasta with sundried tomatoes - and was lambasted by press for saying it!) 



Also on this blog:

Unravelling the British Class System

Matcha of the Day: Matcha Warrior

Yep, that's me. (Well, maybe less of the warrior right now, tbh). But anyway.

This one was a gift brought over for breakfast, and might be artisanal / not widely available (?) It was jolly nice though. Thick and creamy, with a little matcha bitterness and no obvious added sugars. Keeps for a couple of days in the fridge at home.

If you’re in Singapore’s CBD, it might be worth swinging by Lunar Coffee Brewers, which makes it. They seem to have good reviews for their sit-in cafe and food, too!

Lunar Coffee Brewers, 6 Shenton Way, #01-49/50 OUE Downtown Gallery 2, Singapore 068809